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Food Network will not renew Paula Deen's contract

By Tim Molloy, TheWrap.com

Posted:
06/21/2013 02:48:44 PM MDT

Updated:
06/21/2013 03:34:48 PM MDT

Jun 21 (TheWrap.com) - The Food Network is ending its relationship with Paula Deen after her admission in a deposition last month that she has used the N-word in the past, and that she once wanted to plan a "plantation"-style wedding for her brother.

"Food Network will not renew Paula Deen's contract when it expires at the end of this month," it said in a statement.

The decision came soon after Deen released a videotaped statement Friday in which she apologized "for the wrong that I've done."

"I want to apologize to everybody for the wrong that I've done. I want to learn and grow from this. Inappropriate, hurtful language is totally, totally unacceptable," Deen said in the video. "I've made plenty of mistakes along the way, but I beg you, my children, my team, my fans, my partners -- I beg for your forgiveness. Please forgive me for the mistakes that I made."

The decision not to renew her contract capped a tough day for Deen, which began with her canceling a "Today" interview in which she was to discuss the subject. Matt Lauer said her people cited "exhaustion" as the reason she was unavailable.

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Deen, 66, and her brother are being sued by a former employee at their Savannah, Ga., restaurant who claims Deen's brother subjected her to sexist, racist and violent behavior. She accused Deen of using the N word as recently as in 2007, while discussing an idea for a "plantation"-style wedding.

Deen denied using the word then, but conceded that she has used it in the past: Once to refer to a man who held her at gunpoint, and to recount conversations between African-Americans who used the word.

But she said in the deposition that times have changed and she no longer uses the word. Her representatives said in a statement Thursday that her use of it in the past was the result of growing up in the South 60 years ago. Deen followed that statement with her videotaped apology.

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